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Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s ‘Rivers of Light’ Nighttime Spectacular

When Disney's new nighttime experience “Rivers of Light” opens at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, it’ll be one of the most memorable and emotionally stirring shows in the park’s history. And today we’re sharing a sneak peek at some of the amazing sights the show will offer when it debuts in spring 2016.

The show will take place on Discovery River between DiscoveryIsland and Expedition Everest – take a close look and you can you see the Tree of Life in the background. In “Rivers of Light,” a pair of mystical hosts come to the river bearing gifts of light. During the show, the hosts set out from the shore on elaborate lantern vessels for a dramatic dance of water and light to summon animal spirits. With the storytellers as your guides, the wonders of “Rivers of Light” builds to a stunning crescendo.

In addition to the show, you’ll also notice the park’s iconic Tree of Life will undergo an amazing awakening as the animal spirits of the tree are brought to “light” by magical fireflies, revealing moments of wonder and enchantment. To create “Rivers of Light,” Imagineers and Creative Entertainment partnered with the talents of master puppet designer Michael Curry, composer Mark Mancina and the filmmakers at Disneynature. According to Imagineer Joe Rohde, in an interview excerpt from the latest Disney Vacation Planning DVD, the addition of “Rivers of Light” to the park’s offerings will serve as that huge “wow” moment that ends a guest’s visit to the park.

MY DD is a CP at DAK and went to meetings about the new pandora and this show. She said it looks amazing and that while she wasn't thrilled with Pandora before she absolutely is now. Some really innovative new things will be happening. I Can't Wait.

I love this concept and the idea, but I have to wonder about the animals.

Are they going to be leaving the animal intense experiences open for guests or limit it to the "non-living" offerings. I think they can certainly do the later and still make it worth staying late (EE 5 times, anyone?) but I wonder if they do keep the animals out, what effect this will have on them. As pointed in previous posts about DAK, many of the natural expectations of the animals are already upset by not being in the wild, but Disney does better by them than most.

Joe even states that the lives of the animals are different at night, so I have to wonder how this will effect them.

Thoughts?

"Duck!" :)Former C.M. 1996-2002
Many trips with friends and family
Just got back-11/15, Next one: Mid-2016

Assuming that "River of Lights" ends the day like the other night time shows, I imagine that will be something that takes awhile for Disney to pin down. It might be something that keeps changing until they figure out what works best. There are a lot of variables that need to be considered, and some of those will be tough to calculate until they have real live guest in the park leaving the show. For Example:

1. Exactly how long is the show (this is something that can, and probably will change when they start testing it in the park)?
2. Will the majority of guest actually sit through the entire show, or will they start leaving early to try to beat the crowd?
3. How long will it take guest to get from the viewing area to the front of the park?
4. How long will it take to clear all the guest from the park after the River of lights ends?

Additionally, they will have to coordinate with Disney transportation to make sure enough buses are available, which most likely means they will need to make sure that "Rivers of Light" does not end at the same time as the other night time shows.

Has anyone heard anything yet about a more definite opening date? I know "Spring." We will be there 3/24 - 4/3 and I'm hoping that Rivers of Light will start by then!

I called to make reservations for Yak & Yeti dinner - for first week in July - and they aren't taking reservations yet. So I don't believe they have announced an opening date yet. I was surprised - but they told me to call back once the announcement was made.